The sharp sound of footsteps scraping against the ground echoed over the diamond court. It was the sound of Nadal running with all his strength, and it was also the sound of Gawain's rapid lateral movement.
After finishing the high-pressure ball hitting, Gao Wen immediately noticed Nadal's speeding figure. His tense mind was still on high alert and he did not relax at all. Then, he immediately started to move.
Nadal did not give up chasing the ball, and Gawain followed suit across the court, covering the net with his tall figure, compressing Nadal's return line, and looking at Nadal intently.
Then--
Gawain saw that Nadal, under the extreme situation of losing his center of gravity and losing his position, used incredible force to hit an incredible straight line.
Whoosh!
At a certain moment, the tennis ball seemed to disappear from sight. When it reappeared, it was already in the blind spot behind him.
Turn decay into magic.
Gawain finally witnessed Nadal's miraculous hitting ability on the court, and finally understood the complexity of confronting Nadal across the net -
The game is over, but I still have to admit that Nadal's shot was wonderful.
"7:6(5)", "7:5".
After a full 105 minutes of fierce fighting, although Gao Wen saved three match points and both sets were inextricable, at the last moment, Nadal, who was tougher, more determined, more mature and more experienced, finally won.
Got off the game.
Victory and failure are so intertwined and misaligned.
The whole game comes to an end.
Gawain stood there, looking at Nadal who was almost dehydrated but bursting with incredible passion and fighting spirit. An indescribable feeling of loss and bitterness pulled his heart slowly down, and his brain went blank for a short time.
Then, I felt so tired that my body began to feel heavy, as heavy as a thousand pounds. It seemed that my knees could no longer support the weight of this body.
Lost.
Since regaining his second chance, his first defeat in an official game, although belatedly came, finally arrived, experiencing the gradual growth of the NCAA, the test of the challenge, and the Grand Slam.
After all, the winning streak finally came to a halt.
In fact, Gawain always knew that this moment would come sooner or later.
Just like what he said to reporters, no one is invincible. Victory and failure are always part of professional tennis, but when it really happened, emotions broke out in an instant.
He had almost forgotten how grand and bitter the defeat was. Full of disappointment and regret surged in his chest, like a stone weighing on him, making him unable to breathe.
but……
At the end of such a grueling match, the one who performed better won, especially in key points, Nadal was still better.
He fought to the last moment, fought to the last point, fully mobilized all his states, and burned all his energy unyieldingly. Therefore, he had no regrets and could turn around and leave with his head held high.
"Come on, Gawain!"
"Gawain, well done!"
"We'll support you forever!"
He raised his head, looked at the audience who stood up and applauded, took a long breath, and the smile returned to the corner of his mouth, but unfortunately, he could no longer celebrate his victory with the audience today.
Straightening his back again, Gao Wen stepped towards the referee's seat, waiting for Nadal.
Nadal's celebration only lasted for a moment. He quickly stood up, took off his hairband, and jogged towards Gawain. With a humble and sincere expression on his face, he gave Gawain a hug.
“A very exciting game.”
"The guy who performed better won the game, and that last shot, how on earth did you do that? Honestly, I was a little weak in the knees watching it."
Gawain, you are serious.
Nadal was a little uncomfortable. He raised his head and saw Gawain's eyes shining with sincerity, his expression showing a bit of uncomfortable shyness, and he spoke awkwardly in English with a thick Spanish accent.
"You can do it too. It's just that today, my performance was a little better."
After hearing this, Gawain raised his right hand, marked the mark on the knuckle of his index finger with his thumb, and spoke with a very serious expression.
"A little bit like this?"
Nadal was amused by Gawain's tone and laughed naively.
Nadal has always been poor at speaking, and his English ability has also limited his ability to express himself. Among the "Big Four", he is the most dull and simple one. He always prefers actions to words.
So, Nadal put his arms around Gawain's shoulders, without saying a word, and just gently patted the shoulders to express friendship, which was a kind of comfort, encouragement and connection.
The two people said nothing more. After shaking hands with the referee, they walked to the rest area.
Gawain quickly packed his luggage, waved to the audience, and strode away from the stadium. The audience bid farewell to Gawain with the warmest and most solemn applause.
Nadal also stopped changing his jersey, raised his hands high, applauded Gao Wen, and used practical actions to pay respect to his young opponent for the first time -
Gawain earned this respect with his fighting spirit, performance and strength.
After the game.
There is no doubt that Gao Wen has once again become the focus of the siege, because this is Gao Wen's first tournament in his hometown, and it is also the first tournament after winning the US Open. It is undoubtedly a pity that he was not able to go further.
It was also because this was Gao Wen's first defeat since entering professional tennis. From the beginning of the challenge to now, he had a total of twenty-four consecutive victories; if the NCAA tournament record is added to it, then it would be the end of fifty-nine consecutive victories -
—
In any competitive sport, this is a very rare and terrifying winning streak. It has finally come to the end. How could reporters let it go so easily?
At the press conference, Gao Wen still showed his calmness and wisdom, started a humorous dialogue with reporters, faced the defeat calmly, and said that the end of the winning streak was also a release of pressure in a sense, and
——
"I never knew that you also care about the NCAA and Challenger League winning streak."
Objectively speaking, the so-called winning streak should be calculated from the US Open, which means nine consecutive wins in ATP level events, which is far from that unusual; Gao Wen's subtext is that reporters are trying to create gimmicks to hype up the news.
NCAA and Challenger League wins, which are never taken seriously, are also added in.
Hit the mark.
Gao Wen saw things too clearly and soberly, exposing Xiao Jiujiu, the media reporter, and inadvertently, the pressure of stopping his winning streak was lifted up and put down again and again.
Sure enough, the reporters were at a disadvantage once again in their confrontation with Gawain.
Nadal, on the other hand, made no secret of his admiration for Gawain at the post-match press conference. Especially in the Spanish interview, Nadal skillfully expressed richer and more sincere thoughts in his native language.